bacteriophage

(noun)

A virus that specifically infects bacteria.

Related Terms

Examples of bacteriophage in the following topics:

  • The Lytic and Lysogenic Cycles of Bacteriophages

    • Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, may undergo a lytic or lysogenic cycle.
    • Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria .
    • An example of a lytic bacteriophage is T4, which infects E. coli found in the human intestinal tract.
    • A temperate bacteriophage has both lytic and lysogenic cycles.
    • This transmission electron micrograph shows bacteriophages attached to a bacterial cell.

  • Prokaryotic Reproduction

    • In transduction, bacteriophages, the viruses that infect bacteria, sometimes also move short pieces of chromosomal DNA from one bacterium to another.
    • Archaea are not affected by bacteriophages, but instead have their own viruses that translocate genetic material from one individual to another.
    • In (b) transduction, a bacteriophage injects DNA into the cell that contains a small fragment of DNA from a different prokaryote.

  • Viral Morphology

    • Some of the most intricate virion structures are observed in bacteriophages, viruses that infect the simplest living organisms: bacteria.
    • Among the most complex virions known, the T4 bacteriophage, which infects the Escherichia coli bacterium, has a tail structure that the virus uses to attach to host cells and a head structure that houses its DNA .
    • This figure shows three relatively-complex virions: the bacteriophage T4, with its DNA-containing head group and tail fibers that attach to host cells; adenovirus, which uses spikes from its capsid to bind to host cells; and HIV, which uses glycoproteins embedded in its envelope to bind to host cells.

  • Use of Whole-Genome Sequences of Model Organisms

    • The first genome to be completely sequenced was of a bacterial virus, the bacteriophage fx174 (5368 base pairs).

  • Horizontal Gene Transfer

    • These GTAs, which are thought to be bacteriophages that lost the ability to reproduce on their own, carry random pieces of DNA from one organism to another.

  • Steps of Virus Infections

    • The nucleic acid of bacteriophages enters the host cell naked, leaving the capsid outside the cell.

  • Animal Viruses

    • The viral genome is then "injected" into the host cell through these channels in a manner analogous to that used by many bacteriophages.